Yesterday the Journal of Digital and Media Literacy published a special issue on “Digital Inclusion Policies & Programs of Local Governments”, featuring articles by municipal digital inclusion leaders from seven U.S. cities (all Trailblazers).
I was invited by the Journal to guest edit the issue. In the Introduction, I wrote:
Digital inclusion programs in the United States are local. So are the advocacy, outreach, strategies and resources for those programs. The United States does not have a plan for increasing digital equity on a federal level. Nor have we allocated ongoing funding. Therefore, digital inclusion leadership of local government is essential.
Local governments are also in the perfect position to pull together digital inclusion partners, create local plans, increase awareness and raise funding. Which local organizations should engage and which strategic solutions they should employ may vary down to the neighborhood level.
… Local government elected officials or staff wrote all seven articles in this issue. This is a testament to the importance of digital inclusion to the missions of these cities.
A big thank you to the awesome folks at Journal and our incredible contibutors:
- Portland, Mary Beth Henry
- Austin, Rondella Hawkins
- Boston, Anne Schweiger
- Raleigh, Linda Jones
- San Antonio, Mayor Ivy Taylor
- Kansas City, Rick Usher
- San Francisco, Margaret Pulvermann
The Journal is publicly available online. Please share.
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Updated 1-12-17: Adding to the resources on this topic, the seven Journal contributors and I discussed local government and digital inclusion on a Webinar January 11, 2017 @ 1:00 Eastern. Video of this webinar is available in our JoDML issue, on the right side of the page.